I enjoyed the thought of an entire category of people known as SHOVERS. They just roam around, looking for things to push over.
@Shrike I think this is a description of cats.
Great theme with very clever clues. For me, this was the perfect difficulty for a Wednesday, and I came in just on my average time. 10/10 puzzle. Well done to the constructor.
Loved it! One of the better puzzles of the year.
Wow those clues were just hiding in plaIN SIGHT. FULl of clever twists!
Really clever and even humorous. Unexpected change of pace for a Wednesday or any other day for that matter. I really enjoyed this. Kudos to the creator.
My first thought was, What day is it? Then the first fill popped in and all was made clear. From totally baffling it became a game like hide and seek, and from being out of sorts I was delighted and sorry when it was over. No look-ups (were there any even possible?), a little nerve, a little trust, and voila, it was done. Jesse Goldberg, you are a treasure. Thank you! More puzzles please.
@dutchiris I loved it, too. Wednesdays are my favorite puzzle days. This is one of those very fun and satisfying solves that one can just zip through but requires some thought as well. Your hide and see analogy rang true for me. Delightful.
Oh. Well. My brain found this theme to be divine. It was given a new kind of puzzle to crack, had to think on its feet, and came alive. Normally, in crosswords, you have the clue, and from it you deduce the answer. But today, in the theme, the clue led to ANOTHER clue, which led to the answer. Two riddles for the price of one! When the first theme answer came, it came with a huge aha at how it all worked so perfectly, and amazement at how Jesse came up with it. But that’s just one angle. If you had crosses in the answer, you could guess what it was and try to plug it in the blanks of the original clue, and if it worked, well, for me, it also brought a huge aha, not to mention another jaw-dropping “How did he think of this?”. All I know is that after I got my first theme answer, I couldn’t wait to get to the others. My brain was crackling with life, astonishment, and happiness throughout. Some commenters and a certain blogger complained mightily about SHOVERS. Hah! This was a highlight for me. That word embedded in “They push over stuff” – double hah! Triple hah! This was one of my favorite puzzles of the year. This was a treat. I bow to you, Jesse, for what you pulled off, and thank you many times over for the exuberance your puzzle ignited in me.
Lewis, Amen! Definitely POY material, and the finest use of the Wednesday slot in quite a while. ###
@Lewis Well.....Maybe DOZERS or SHOVELS there would have been more satisfying. SHOVERS can be designated a 'real word,' but not really in use. I don't see how you can justly claim that Xword Junkie and I "complained mightily' when we simply noted that this one isn't of the same stellar quality as the other themers.
This was so different, interesting, and involving! A fabulous mental workout! My one big foible was Menopause for MIDDLE AGE off of that initial M. Well, menopause fit the spaces *and* the clue, what can I say, lol. I'm sure I would have more to share about my solving experience, were I not stupefied by the creativity of the constructor. Genius abounds in this sensational puzzle. Bravo and thank you so much, Mr. Goldberg!
@sotto voce same exact mistake in my solve. Took a bit to unscramble that error 🤪
Great theme, well-executed. A fun Wednesday puzzle.
What a wackily inventive and fun theme. I was almost afraid to read the comments, but I'm happy to see that most people loved it as much as I did. I would have lost all faith in humanity if there was a preponderance of haters, so thank you, fellow wordplayers! Maybe that's an exaggeration, but you know what I mean?
Two whole Star Trek clues?? Love to see it ☺️
Not only did the constructor come up with an astonishing twelve brilliant examples of kangaroo phrases, but the answers all had to be symmetrical too. Now that’s what I call impressive! And it was hopping fun too! Well done, Jesse.
This is my favorite type of crossword puzzle: One that I feel has me completely bested until I finally find a foothold. I knew RKO but nothing else until I saw “Star Tre_” — then I felt some glimmer of hope. You see, I’m that nerd who will get darned near anything to do with the Star Trek universe. Naturally, I nearly passed out when I saw one of my favorite characters, Deanna TROI, in 1D! Hit a few more crosses, then went to town on the downs. The Kangaroo phrases were absolutely delightful! I had trouble with GOLEM because I didn’t know it or the cross ROENTEGENS, so the last fill (O) was through guesses. Fun, fun, fun!! 🤩
@Pani Korunova Two Trek clues in one puzzle: joy!!
@Pani Korunova Wilhelm Röentgen discovered X-rays, and the unit for X-ray exposure is named after him.
@pkimmel TIL! It’s so funny to me how people who read a lot know so many things but not others. That’s one reason I love crossword puzzles — to fill in learning gaps!
Wow - just wow. Amazing piece of construction. Was appropriately puzzled for quite a while, but then a terrific 'aha' moment when I finally tumbled to the trick and then just had a great time working out each of the theme answers. Just can't imagine how much work it must have taken to find all of those possible theme answers. Oh, and answer history search today: Wondered how many possible answers there were that have the string of letters NINTH embedded in them. Well... 53 that have appeared in puzzles - a large number of them that embed "in the" as part of the answer. There are even 18 fifteen letter answers that embed that string - e.g. singiNINTHerain. I'm done. ..
Absolutely brilliant. Best Wed puzzle of the year?
@Chris G Well, if you take out the word "Wednesday". And the word "Year". I'm pretty sure this is the best crossword puzzle I've ever seen. (And yet it seemed goofy and annoying at first glance.) /emus will fly by the time a better one comes along
@B I’m with you: this is the bedtime crossword puzzle I’ve ever done. Just perfection!
Stuck with CHOkER/TAkE for wayyyyy too long before finally giving in to check for wrongs. Honestly had never heard of CHOLER, so new word of the day..Check! Absolutely loved the theme, so fun!
@Georgia Choler a classic word used in the wordplay of the opening of Romeo and Juliet! One of my favorite scenes.
@Georgia Same here! That's the only one that stumped me. So now it's in my lexicon for at least another fifteen hours :)
@Georgia I also had CHOkER/ TAkE. Had to resort to “check puzzle” to see where I went wrong. . . .
Wow, this was great. “Make your own DOOK”! They almost all resisted discovery at first. And, even though I sometimes have fun trying to come up with more theme entries, I’m with Sam here - how did that RASCAL Jesse do it?! Not even gonna try. Instead I’ll just add this one to my POY list.
This puzzle was so much fun. It’s going to make me search for more kangaroo clues (or however the constructor put it). The way all the spaces are jammed together adds such a language-bending twist.
What a clever puzzle! Today marks day 1,387 of my streak, and this puzzle is one of the funnest yet. Thank you, Jesse Goldberg--I look forward to more from you!
I have not read comments yet but can't contain my excitement!! That was so -- much -- fun!!!!! Even though I didn't immediately get the first clue at 1A, like Sam, I knew we were in for a real treat!! I didn't stop smiling from start to finish—and still have a big dopey grin on my face! What a clever and sort of meta delight!! I don't keep track but this is definitely one of my very favorite puzzles—and a real treat for my one year anniversary of working on NYT crosswords (or any crossword). I jumped in a year ago just to see if I could... For some reason, I never really thought I would be good at them. I can't say I'm good yet but I've definitely improved and am loving it. This charming puzzle was the icing on my imaginary anniversary cupcake! Grateful cheers to all of the brilliant minds that bring us these puzzles, write about these puzzles, and make up this fun and encouraging forum! I've learned a lot from the puzzles and the comments here, especially from our veteran solvers, and I'm grateful! Huzzah!!
@HeathieJ When you read the comments you'll be happy to see that almost all of us are with you on this. It's a remarkable puzzle in many ways. Very hard to top this brilliant piece of work. It made me very happy solving it. In retrospect it went by FAR too quickly. My first posting here was much like yours - posted in grateful exuberance before even reviewing what anyone else had to say.... And this was such a surfeit of chewy goodness - Goldberg could have easily spread the hits over 2, 3, or even 4 puzzles and it would have been almost as good. I'm just wowed. What a surprise gift today.
I woke up with a headache, but even if I hadn’t I’d have one now, just trying to fathom how difficult this one was to construct. Amazing. Just fantastic. That’s a bar-raising puzzle, right there…
Amazing imagination at work here. Having been able to solve this tough puzzle as my 81st birthday looms means that my sentencing to the "home" has probably been delayed for a few years. Thanks for the reprieve Jesse!
@Once a Marine Just sending you a hug and a "Hurrah" for your upcoming birthday & reprieve. May your b-day wishes come true.
@Once a Marine Congratulations! I'm right behind you, also trying to stave off the inevitable.
Brilliant puzzle. It took me a minute to articulate the rule for those tricky clues, but then... pow! Such fun and so clever. ALSO: I really appreciate the constructor's backstage insights into the editorial process. It's always fascinating to see how, rather than sprouting fully formed, genius "stands on the shoulders" and coalesces among a field of creators. Thank you for the excellent puzzle, Jesse Goldberg & eds.!
@Josh -- Yes! I too loved how Jesse gave full credit to Will and the editors for their part in the theme's conception and execution. It took nothing away from the remarkable part he played in coming up with these theme answers and so expertly making it work in the box. In fact, that dash of humility and credit-where-credit-is-due from Jesse lifted him even higher in my esteem. Thank you for bringing this up!
The first clue slowed me for a bit. Since the dashed line had no spaces, I wanted to write "mesan" as in "chicken parmesan" which didn't work with the crosses (or make sense!). The next theme clue helped me get the trick. For the rest, this puzzle was really in my wheelhouse and I whipped through it , while joining so many others in admiring the clever kangaroo phrase idea!!
Bravo! Bravo! What a tremendous puzzle! This one approaches or achieves genius in my estimation. As I solved each theme clues I kept thinking "oh this one is going to be awkward" and then after seeing it got an "aha" moment as I realized how perfect (and impossible to construct!) it was. The "fill" was great too. And in spite of all that I still finished it quite quickly. The puzzle was beyond clever and a joy to play. Thank you! Oh and I didn't "get" why a snap pea had to be "pee" until I saw the explanation in Wordplay after solving. Cheeky. /emu essence, not elk
@B I thought it was 'snapping back at someone' ie 'pee them off'. Right answer, wrong logic :)
@B I also couldn't work out PEE either - a rare example of a pure UK-style cryptic crossword clue.
@B In my solve, last two words that i filled in were PEE and JOHNS, very funny
At first I was completely mystified. Every clue with dashes just baffled. "Is this a WEDNESDAY puzzle?" Then I saw a Star Trek related clue, and my heart warmed some. It wasn't too long after that I had that "aha" moment, "Oh! THAT's what's going on!" I got all the answers, then, without cheating. It did take quite a bit more time than the usual Wednesday, but worth it.
This was a delightful workout with the PandA fill in the blank clues, but done on a more sophisticated level than the typical PandA clues. I particularly liked RASCAL filling in a phrase with the word scalawag just because I like the word scalawag (although I’ve often heard it pronounced scallywag). DEATH and STAKE were also quite clever. I also loved seeing ITHACA in the puzzle, as I spent years 4-7 in a little town SE of ITHACA where my family lived while my father was completing his Ph.D. at Cornell. Although we left the area for NJ in 1963, I’ve always retained a strong affinity for that part of NY and have many fond memories of my time there.
@Marshall Walthew So your family has experience wITH ACAdemia, then?
@Marshall Walthew Ithaca is Gorges!
@Marshall Walthew lived there for 10 years...the best!
wonderful puzzle. very clever but not impossible. Just right for a Wednesday. I really enjoyed it.
Hi Y'all I'm with you Sam, Jesse Goldberg is a genius! I couldn't pick one of the fantastic missing letter clues that solve into an appropriate response if I tried. Like choosing a favorite child. They are all so very clever, wonderfully crafter and a joy to solve. I didn't take me long to figure out the missing letters I jumped around to find them, I enjoyed solving them that much! What a great Wednesday crossword! Thank you Jesse and NYT puzzle team.
Wow! I think this is the smartest and most fun crossword I’ve ever done. Perfectly tuned for my knowledge and not too many Americanisms for this Brit to be baffled by (though Broadway “Auntie” had me completely at a loss). Thank you to all involved - a great piece of work
@Nick The Broadway show starred Britain’s own Angela Lansbury as the title character, so there’s your dose of Britannia for you. (American Lucille Ball played Auntie MAME in the movie.) !!!
The constructor obviously lavished a great deal of time, effort, and love on the cluing of this puzzle. There are twelve (12!!!) theme clues -- which is absolutely amazing theme density -- and I thought all of them were smooth as silk. I define "smooth" as an answer completely in sync with the clue, so that the puzzle is completely fair to the solver. And Jesse has a limited amount of space to play with in his theme clue writing. I spent some time wondering if I could have pulled this off? My conclusion: Mostly worsely And much less tersely. I think most solvers will find that this plays quite a bit easier than it looks. The blank spaces seemed a bit formidable when I first perused the theme clues, but once I saw what was happening, I parsed everything without any hiccups. And my favorite clue was actually not a themer. Thanks, Jesse, for that lovely quote on MIDDLE AGE. I liked this puzzle a lot.
I can't think of a puzzle I've enjoyed more for a long time. What a novel gimmick!
Such a wonderful crossword, very clever, I loved it!!!
Suuuuuuuuuch a good theme! I skipped it at 1 Across but caught on at 9 Across and it was off to the races from there. Some I needed a few crosses on and some I was able to get outright and both methods were equally as fun. My parents are Trekkies so KLINGON was nostalgic for me. I cracked up at JOHNS, especially after PEE. I needed the comments when I didn't get the music on completion. I had CHOkER/TAkE. I had never heard of CHOLER and choker loosely made sense for [fury], and take certainly made sense for [account].
I hated it. And not because I couldn't do it or even found it difficult. It was just irritating. YMMV. But next comes a Thursday! Perhaps it will be something fun.
This was a beautiful puzzle. Thank you for brightening my day.
Fabulous puzzle! As fabulous as a Thursday,so an extra treat for the week! Til thanatophobe. 56D and 66A made me laugh. Thanks to Jesse Goldberg, and I also hope to see many more puzzles from this author!
"Where's your sink?" "What? Sorry, I lost my drain of thought." (I'll have to pipe down.)
@Mike Is this a plug for your business?
Clever, challenging, and intriguing. That's not to say I enjoyed it as much as the other commenters in here. My wife and I love to complete these together. It seemed more difficult for a Wednesday than usual, at least to me. For context, we both are a bit fatigued from working a lot. I'm not sure why I'm commenting, unless somebody (hopefully) smiles while reading this.
Brilliant. Fun. Mind-boggling construction. THANK YOU, Jesse Goldberg (and the editorial team). It was WOW after WOW.
THIGH stymied me, but by ORALS I had figured out more or less what was going on. Still, I solved a lot of the puzzle by pattern recognition, and had to go back at the end to see how each theme answer fit its clue. Thanks for the fun, Mr. Goldberg!
A brilliant creation! Maybe one of my favorites ever!! I can’t believe what constructors come up with!
I found the theme quite clever and it really had my brain in a twist. Maybe I'm masochistic, but I truly enjoy having my brain twisted. I didn't use hints or lookups, but I finished well over my average time. If this is a Wednesday puzzle, we might be in for a doozy tomorrow!
Great solve - wonderful idea . Keep 'em coming !
That was a nice little workout for my brain. Like Sam, I'm in awe of people who can come up with ideas like this! At first I thought the spacing of the blanks indicated where words broke, but then I just realized that I probably need a new prescription in my glasses so I could see them better. Despite that, I enjoyed the solve.
So much fun. Thank you, Jesse. 🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘 🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘 🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘
This was an interesting and novel theme, but it seemed to me this was an archetypal Thursday puzzle, not a Wednesday at all. For me, too much thinking required to be a Wednesday. (Not that I dislike thinking; I’m just talking about the level.) Your mileage, as they say…
@Steve L In yesterday's comments you said that April '94 was before Shortz started the weekly progression of difficulty - when did that begin?
First, I’ll say how much I thought of this theme and this puzzle—it was unreal. Then, I’ll mention that SHOVERS and PEE were not my favorite. Those two together in that section took me a long time to sort out. And finally, I’ll say it again—what a killer puzzle. Remarkable work, Jesse Goldberg.
I have to chime in when I enjoy a puzzle this much. The cluing was just right for a Wednesday and the "aha" moment with the dashed clues was very fun for me. I also loved that the trick began with the first clue so one wondered where it was going from the start. Unlike Sam, I first put in "mesan", even though "chicken parmesan in fat" doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Clever, and very well done. Great puzzle. Thank you, Jesse!
@EmptyJ for some reason I started with 32A ....which turned out to be a big help. I had i all filled in after trying WHAT YOU Did, WHAT SHE Did, then switching to the Downs.... then getting ONE in there and Pow! Seeing the true extent of the cleverness. (I was going to parBOIL the chicken, before abandoning the NW...)